


Some girls like purebreds. Some girls like mutts.

by lifelesslyndsey



Series: How To Teach An Old Dog New Tricks [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Multi, Slow Build, Tony's feeling is hurt, just the one though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-11
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-19 04:27:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/879447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifelesslyndsey/pseuds/lifelesslyndsey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Later that evening, when Lewis is gone, and he and Bruce are tinkering, Tony finds himself asking. “Do you think I’m sheltered and snobby?” </p><p>“You’re Tony Stark,” Bruce says, with absolutely no hesitance, like it’s an answer. </p><p>He doesn't go bowling with them come Saturday night. He sits in his lab and wonders why Darcy Lewis doesn’t like him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He doesn't see her everyday. He’s still not even sure what she does.  What exactly does assisting Pepper entail?  Whatever it is, she’s good at it. His office has never ran smoother, and his lab has found it’s way too a confusing order. Tony can find things now, things he didn’t even know he misplaced, like his lasicdriver, or his frampton compound press, or Bruce. 

 

“Bruce!” Tony grins when his science-bro startles, looking up from a compression modulator he’d been poking at. “I haven’t seen you in ages. Where have you been, buddy?”

 

Bruce blinks at him, both curled into it's ever-present Mona-L:isa near-smile. Some days, Tony's sure Bruce is laughing at the world. “SHIELD sent me to the backlands of Scandinavia for...for things.” His tone suggests that Tony should already know this. That Tony did know this. “I’ve been gone for two months. You really had no idea where I was?”

 

“Oh. Uh. Has it been that long?” Time is kind of stupid when the days don't matter. Tony's always working. “Sorry. Don’t feel to bad. Pepper’s got this new assistant, she’s a slave driver. I haven’t had time to blow up anything in like a week.”

 

“If you ask nicely, I’ll pencil in some freetime,” Darcy says, magically appearing at the lab table. Whatever Natasha taught the girl, Tony does not approve. For an ungainly, top-heavy thing, she moves in near silence.  “Does Wednesday work? You have an opening right before lunch.  We're going over material requisits after, so a little chill time before hand isn't a bad idea.” She doesn’t wait for an answer, just pokes at the Stark-pad held in her arm. “There you go. Also, _hello_ Sexy.” She blinks up at Bruce, eyes flickering over his white lab coat and shiney name tag. “Make that Doctor Sexy. Holy chest hair; some body stop me before I bad touch."No one stops her, and Darcy doesn't hesitate to feel Bruce up, her tiny hand smoothing up his chest, plucking at the open buttons of his wrinkled shirt. " Are you free for lunch, you adorable thing you?”

 

Tony is floored, by her audacity.  No one touches on Bruce but Tony, skittesh that he might burst right then, and smush them to dust. Tony knows better. Darcy...doesn't, actually. She’s just got lady nuts.

 

Bruce is floored too, flustered as well if the flush on his perpetually tanned cheeks is anything to go by. “Oh, I don’t think---”

 

“Good, that makes my job easier. Tony, it’s time for lunch. Bring your friend. I’ll have Happy waiting with the car in twenty.  How’s Indian? I know a great little place. Lose the white suit jacket though, it’ll make you look like a creep. I don’t need anyone else asking me if you bad-touched me.”

 

Tony wills himself not to flush at that. That hadn’t been a good day. “Maybe if you didn’t moaned ‘Oh God Uncle Tony’ when I reached under the table to grab my napkin at that bistro on Staten Island? It's a wonder it didn't end up in the headlines.” Tony's not sure it didn't, but Pepper hadn't yelled at him about it yet, so probably not. 

 

Darcy shrugs, and Tony catches from the corner of his eye, Bruce trying not to look at her tits when they jiggle _just_ so.“I did it for the lols.”  

 

She leaves, just like that, beaded flip flops slapping against the cold marble floors. Bruce clears his throat, after the elevators close behind her. “So thats Peppers new assistant? She looks familiar.”

 

“Use to intern for Foster. She’s evil.” Tony warns. “Just...really evil. Don’t let the tits distract you, she’s Satan. She hands me things Bruce. All the time! And she doesn’t hit me when I look down her shirt. How is this my life? She encourages it! How am I suppose to not look, if she encourages it?”  

 

Bruce stares at him, brow furrowed. “Okay, now I’m just confused.”

 

“You and me both, Doctor Sexy,” Tony agrees, pulling off his white jacket because he might like to stare at Jail Baits tits, but he doesn't _want_ to look like a creep. “Evil.”

 ***

The Indian place turns out to be some total dive, but Bruce is groaning in his delight. Apparently the food is authentic. Given that the man’s lived in backwater India for who knows how long, Tony can’t argue that he knows his stuff.  But seriously, they’re sitting on the floor, eating. It isn’t right.

 

Darcy is tucked up right into Bruce’s side, feeding him with her hand. And Bruce is letting her! It’s...It’s all wrong! Tony warned him. “And then I was like, 'look bro, you’re freaking me out' but he just kept going on and on like a drunken hobo so I tased him. Went down like a bag of bricks, and yeah maybe he wasn’t a threat, but I stand by my decision. Ten out of ten, would tase again.” She shrugs, like tasing Gods is no big thing. “But we’re cool now. We’re going bowling next saturday. You should totally come. You too Tony, I guess.”

 

 _I guess._ Tony chews is Naan angrily and ignores the weird feeling in his gut like he’s not really welcomed in the conversation. It’s all very third-wheel and Tony does not like it. “I have a bowling alley at Stark Towers.”

 

“Yes, but does it come with pre-worn shoes, terrible beer and black light lasers?” She waves a chunk of Naan at him. “Pedestrian? Absolutely. But that’s where the fun is at, my snobby  sheltered billionaire.”

 

Later that evening, when Lewis is gone, and he and Bruce are tinkering, Tony finds himself asking. “Do you think I’m sheltered and snobby?”

 

“You’re Tony Stark,” Bruce says, with absolutely no hesitance, like it’s an answer.

  
He doesn’t go bowling with them come Saturday night. He sits in his lab and wonders why Darcy Lewis doesn’t like him.

 

 


	2. sometimes a secretary, sometimes a guard dog.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick Fury calls Darcy a secretary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place time-line wise, before the other parts of the series. Just a little moment of bonding between T-Dog and Lewis. Also, Tony likes it when Darcy wears pencil skirts.
> 
> Also, I pasted this in from google docs and it seems to have eaten all the italics. So, hopefully I'm a good enough writer that any emphasis stands out with out them, but we'll see.

It was a month before Tony really got to see Lewis in action, as it were. He knew of course, that she was competent. Pepper wouldn’t bother with anything short of perfection. Lewis came and went in the lab, often dropping by with little warning and much paperwork. Sometime though, she’d pull him out of the lab by the front of his coat. They’d grab lunch, or a drink, or on one odd occasion, a nap in the back of the limo on the way to a press conference.  She brought him dossiers and snacks alike, firing off his itinerary in a no-nonsense tone even as she shoved sandwiches into his hand. He knew of course, that there was more to her job, he just hadn't seen it yet. 

  


“My what an ominous stack of folders you have there.” Tony stared at Lewis, as she crossed the lab, ominous stack of folders indeed tucked into her arm.

 

“All the better to delay you with, Mr. Stark.” She sighed tiredly, and flopped down onto the couch. “Come on then, you don’t actually have to sign this. I just need to see you look at it, so I can say with all honesty that you did in fact, go over them.’

 

Tony closed out the holoscreen projections of the intern’s suggested projects. The Exploratory Research Inbox was always proverbially overflowing. The funding however, was not. As much as Tony would love to bankroll every idea, it simply couldn’t be done. “What is it?”

 

“SHIELD liaison materials requisition reports.”  She opened the first one, and tapped the number at the bottom. “Not actually part of my job with Pepper, but I somehow got wrangled into it regardless. I was suppose to take these to Steve, but lets be real, he has no idea what he’s doing outside the battlefield or at the dinner table, bless the boy but it’s true. He asked me to bring them to you. I just need someone competent in expenditures to say  they looked at it, they get it, class dismissed. Did you know you get a tax break for housing the Avengers, because you do. Just putting that out there”

 

“They didn’t tell me that, no.” Tony smiled, eyeing the red and green numbers. While they didn’t quite balance, it was a close enough thing that no one would balk. Tony paid for his own repairs, and had fitted Hawk Eye with a range of new weaponry free of charge. SHIELD wouldn’t let him touch Steve’s suit, but he’d done a few upgrades to the shield.

 

Plus, there were Bruce’s pants. Tony had them requisitioned, he knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a thing about stretchy pants. Most the internal Avengers repairs, Tony footed himself, leaving city damage for SHIELD and the Council to pick up.  In the end, he often paid out more. Repairs were costly yes, but science was just plain expensive.

 

“Jarvis,” Darcy called out, looking up for the folder. “Can you track down all Avengers related expenditures, including food, transportation, equipment etcetera and email me the numbers?.”

 

“Consider it done, Miss Darcy,” his AI intoned.

 

“Lewis,” Tony cut her off, laughing a little. “I don’t actually need the tax break. I’m more a For The People kind of person, when it comes to tax breaks. Don’t bother.”

 

She shrugged, and flipped the page. “The more money you save, the more money you can spend. These are projected expenses for the fiscal quarter, with an estimated damage cost for up to three major situations where the Avengers are required to assemble. That’s three catastrophes in four months; it’s a hopeful number I realize, but there is an emergency fund in place should unexpected aliens attack out of turn.”

 

“As they are wont to do,” Tony agreed. “Alright, lay it on me.”

  


She gave him a wan smile, before returning to the sheets. “On to transportation and equipment. The Quintjet. Is that yours on loan to SHIELD, or....”

 

“Loan is such a generous word,” Tony replied, wryly. “More like they took it, and I let them. But yeah, it’s mine. My own design too, based off the Wakanda boys’ own.  I bought partial rights to the standard blueprints and made my own modification.” Wakanda had actually been interested in some of his upgrades; the patents were in the works now. Tony wasn’t surprised; they always did good business with the Starks. T’Challa[1] was practically an honorary Stark, even if Tony’s suit was totally cooler.

 

Darcy nodded, humming along as scrawled out a list on the corner of the folder. “Jarvis, I want the numbers for the blueprints, materials, time spent - if the Quintjet is yours, SHIELD can lease it properly. Is it insured? What about maintenance; who covers that?”

 

Tony blinked because this seemed a little more personal then standard material requisite overview. “I...yeah. T’Challa, the original designer, recommended insuring it through the Wakanda Design Group. I’ve commissioned them for maintenance in the past. It doesn’t technically fall under the category of Military Vehicle---”

 

She scowled. “It does now; so long as SHIELD rents it out, they can insure it, and foot the costs for maintenance.”

 

“Lewis. Darcy,” Tony said slowly. “I hesitate to ask because feelings, but is there something wrong? You’re surprisingly bloodthirsty today.”

 

“Nick Fury called me the secretary,” Darcy said flatly, looking up at him with furious eyes. “The secretary. And the way he said it Tony...” She grimaced. “He might as well called me a cockroach or a...a...civilian!”

 

“I can see how the two wouldn’t be mutually exclusive in Nick’s eyes.” Tony scratched at the back of his neck. “Or...you know. Eye.”

 

“Not so long ago, I was mentoring under his topmost agents. I was going to be shadowing Maria Hill, his second-in-command!” She shook her head, teeth clenched. “And now I’m the fucking secretary. He asked me to get him coffee! I wasn’t even working. I stopped by to see Phil.”

 

And now that she mentioned Agent Coulson, Tony couldn’t help but notice her hair was a mess, and she had a fresh-looking hickey peeking up from behind her collar.  He couldn’t help but feel torn between disgust and a way-to-go-Agent type feeling.

 

“Do you regret leaving SHIELD to work for Pepper?” Tony tugged the reports away from her, shoving them into the cushions of the couch.

 

Darcy deflated with a drawn out sigh. “Not really, no. I mean it’s not exactly what I planned on doing with my life, but I feel more in my element than I ever did in Kevlar.  Fuck knows I have the worst poker face anyway. You know they have a class for that? They do. It’s one big staring contest.  I don’t know; Fury made me feel stupid. So now I just kind of wanna...”

 

“Bleed him dry?” Tony finished, grinning. “Fury’s just pissed because we snipped you out from under him. But, to be fair, he scalps my scientists all the time. Doesn’t even pay them, most the time.”

 

“Lease them out too,” Darcy grumbled. “Actually, you know what? Charge consultation fees. A flat fee for SI, and then by the hour. Your scientists are important; they deserve better. And, add into renewing contracts a stipulation that barrs unauthorized employment outside of Stark Industries. You might also add a clause into the confidentiality contract that prohibits employees from working with your top three competitors for a minimum of a year, post employment with Stark Industries.” She pauses for a moment. “Stop me if I’m getting presumptuous.”

 

“But presumptuous is your middle name,” Tony teased. “But in all seriousness, I like it. Do I get a tax break for lending out my employees to SHIELD?”

 

“Not if you charge,” Darcy hummed. “But retroactively? Hell yeah. Actually, how long as SHIELD been using the Quintjet? You could probably collect back payment.”

 

“You’re not just just a secretary you know.” Tony slugged her gently on the shoulder. “And even if you were, you’re Pepper Potts secretary. That’s nothing to scoff at. She hand picked you out of an endless pool of interns.  I mean it when I say Fury’s just got his undies in a bunch because you dropped him like a ditchable prom date.”

 

“I know.” She sighed, and kicked her shoes off beneath the coffee table. “It’s just...when I was with SHIELD, I was his golden girl. I know that’s kind of a smug thing to say, but it’s true. I mean...I didn’t really get it; I still don’t. I’m not....I can’t kill a person with my thighs, I’m not sneaky, I’m not...not like his other agents. But he seemed to see something worthwhile in me. And now I’m a second-class citizen, just because I would rather work for you, than him.”

 

Tony didn’t correct her; she worked for Pepper. He did pause though, mouth pulling into a frown. “I think that might actually be the problem, kid.  You’re not the first to leave Nick Fury and his band of cohorts and come work for me. He wanted the Hulk, but Banner went Stark. Even the Captain turned his nose up at Fury. Not to mention the wonder twins, Clint and Tash.”

 

Darcy nodded, and flopped back on the couch. “Makes sense I guess. He’s probably sick of you stealing all his toys on the playground. But...it’s just...I like the idea of making a change. I mean, that’s why I took political science. I wanted to fight the man, not work for him. So, when Pepper Potts offered me a job to work for Stark Industries, the same company that changed the way war worked...I could never say no.”

 

She sucked in a breath, and flashed him a wry grin. “You know, I did my college entrance essays on you. How, by pulling out of the weapons industry, you changed the face of war itself. How you refused to cater to warlords, both American and otherwise. God, Tony you don’t even know. I was a senior in high school then----”

 

He made a face. Because...ugh. Just....just ugh.“Jesus Christ, that doesn’t make me feel old at all----”

 

“Shut up, I’m baring my soul. Anyway, I was a senior in highschool when you did that, you know? And I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. And then there you were, on the news, telling the world you wanted nothing to do with the war business and I just thought....that was something I wanted to do. Make a change.”

 

“Aw....are you telling me I’m your hero, Darcy? I’m touched, really.”

 

She elbowed him. “Shaddup. But...yeah. Kind of? You are the reason I went into political science---”

 

“Ugh, you take that back right now. That’s a terrible thing to accuse a man of----”

 

She elbowed him again, but then linked their arms. It was weird; they weren’t that close. Their interactions were limited to work; lunch and paperwork, nagging and food.  But then, he’d learned that Darcy could be quite free with her affections.  It meant nothing.  She'd called him snobby and sheltered not so long ago, after all. 

  


“What I’m saying here is that SHEILD was great and all -they taught me a lot about myself I would have never learned otherwise. But...I never would have....I didn’t feel right, working for them. I don’t like the things they do, like stealing all of Jane’s hard work you know? I didn’t want to be a part of that.”

 

“It wasn’t what you were about,” Tony reasoned, propping his feet up on the coffee table, and crossing his ankles like she had. “You’re not a minion.”

 

“I don’t want to be one, at any rate. And Stark Industries....you, Tony Stark, are all about change. Adaptation. Innovation. Other tion’s I can’t think of right now.”

 

Her touch didn’t mean much, but her words left him hot and cold.  Tony knew when he was being flattered, but this was different.  It bordered on admiration and made him feel... _weird_. 

 

She shrugged against him. He was weirdly aware of the the weight of her breasts sliding against the skin of his arm. “ I want to be a part of that, and I don’t want Nick Fury to make me feel bad about it.”

 

“So don’t,” Tony told her, frankly. “No one can make you feel bad about anything unless you let them. Yeah, yeah----easier said than done. But at the end of the day, you’re the personal assistant of HBIC Pepper Potts, front-runner of one of the biggest enterprises ever. Only one person can say that, Lewis. You.”

 

She smiled at that, a pleased little thing. “You’re right.”

 

“Of course I am.” Tony was almost always right. Except for when Pepper was right. That usually meant Tony was wrong, but whatever.

 

“You know I did go get him coffee,” Darcy said, after a long moment. “And then I dumped it in his lap. I am no one’s fucking secretary, dammit.”

 

“Damn right. Now, this has been more than enough pep-talk for me.” He clapped his hands and rolled himself up off the couch. “Is the pity party over? Can we return to the regular programming? You know, snark and bitching and lots of paper work.”

 

She kicked him in the knee. “Worst party ever, Stark. There wasn’t even cake.”

 

He stepped behind the bar, and pulled the first bottle his hand touched. “I have burbon? Will bourbon work?”

 

Darcy made a face, even as she perched herself up on the bar stool. “Bourbon is gross.”

 

“Bite your tongue you tiny terrorist, this bottle is older than you. Bourbon is the liquor of Americans, Darcy. Inbred Americans of backwoods Kentucky, but really does it get more American than that?” He squinted at the shoddy paper label. “I don’t even think Martin Mills is still in business...”

 

“It taste like butts.”

 

Tony stared for a long moment. “I’ve seen you eat it on your cereal.”

 

To her credit, Darcy laughed. “I think I was still drunk? All I remember is thinking that milk would be a bad choice.” She shrugged. “It still tasted like butts.”

 

“Well it’s made out of corn, and stewed in burnt wooden barrels, I don’t know what you expect.” Tony blinked at her. “It’s not about the taste. Bourbon is an experience.”

 

“Bourbon is for when you’re too drunk to care what it taste like,” Darcy rebutted, stealing the uncapped bottle from his hand, and tossing back a swig. “Ugh, yeah. Butts.”

 

Scandalized, Tony stole the bottle back. “This stuff is like a hundred and forty dollars an ounce and you just drank it out of the bottle you uncivilized heathen. I will make you a Manhattan if you promise to never do that again. It has cherries in it, it’s practically candy.”

  


*

 

A week later, Tony followed Darcy to SHIELD headquarters curiously. She’d been surprisingly tight lipped about her intentions toward Fury, but it was obvious she had a plan. He scheduled an appointment with the bald bastard, under her request, and asked no further questions.

 

Darcy tossed the flashchip at Fury with a smirk. “Tony and I went over the SHIELD-Avengers expenditure reports last night, just like you asked.”

 

Fury didn’t look up from his computer screen. “I believe a simple email would have sufficed, Ms. Lewis. No need to waste your precious time on me. Surely you have better things to do. Phones to answer---”

 

“Coffee to fetch?” Tony asked lightly, and grinned when the wrinkles in Fury’s forehead deepened. “Actually, I requested the meeting today, Captain Tightwad.  I found a few discrepancies when I went over the reports you left with Ms. Lewis.”  

  


“I thought Captain Rogers was heading the Avengers?” Nick stared at Darcy from his side of the desk, flash chip pinched between his fingers. “Did he go over the reports?”

 

“Captain Rogers has officially handed any financial overseeing to Mr. Stark. He found it necessary that someone competent in legal jargon and fiscal structure take control. Mr. Stark was all too happy to help, weren’t you?”

 

“Considering the very large donation I make to the Avengers, both monetary and time spent.” Tony grinned. “A few things have been brought to light, my bald friend. Such as the improper leasing of the Quintjet. I don’t know if you know this, but it’s use is heavily mandated by the Wakanda Design Group----”

 

“Of which you bought rights too,” Fury cut in, eye twitching. “I don’t see the problem.”

 

“Mr. Stark bought rights to use the Quintjet,” Darcy echoed. “SHIELD, however, did not. It violates the rules and regulations set down by the chairman of Wakanda, and as such, could result in confiscation of said jet, as well----”

 

“Can it Lewis,” Fury barked. “I’ll have my people get in touch with Wakanda by the end of the day. Is that all?”

 

“Not hardly,” Darcy said flatly. She leaned over the desk, and grabbed the chip from Fury’s hand, before shoving it into the computer. The files and reports from last night lit up the holoscreen (Stark Tech, Tony thought, as he narrowed his eyes). “The Quintjet is property of Stark Industries----”

 

“Confiscated by SHIELD as is their right, as stated by the----”

 

“Nope,” Darcy grinned, pulling up another file. “See, you don’t confiscate anything from Stark Industries. The government -Military included- has a working contract with the Stark legacy, stating that all materials used or borrowed will be compensated for. This contract was put in place by Howard Stark in 1940, in the early stages of Project Rebirth.” She slams Fury with a blinding smile. “And as such, SHIELD is mandated to lease the Quintjet through Tony Stark,  as well as finance it’s insurance and maintenance, as mandated through the Wakanda Design Group.”

 

“Miss Lewis,” Fury began tightly. “Personal vendetta aside---”

 

She picked up his coffee, and took a short sip. “You called me the secretary.”

 

“And you proved me wrong by...filing reports?”

 

“Something like that.” She grinned again, the sharp cutting thing Tony was glad to find he wasn’t on the wrong end of. “Now, let’s move on to government subsidies and tax breaks. Mr. Stark currently bankrolls the care, feeding and upkeep of the Avengers Initiative---”

 

“They denounced their affiliations with SHIELD after the Chitauri invasion. Neither Banner nor Thor have any official ties to SHIELD----”

 

“I’ll give you that,” Darcy conceded. “Avengers known as Hawkeye, Window and Captain America however, are still considered a part of SHIELD.  Now, I have every documentation for the last three years necessary; every requisition, every repair, every single arrow fired, all here; all provided by Stark Industries, by Tony Stark himself.”

 

“He offered---”

 

“Yes, yes he did.” Tony watched as Darcy threw up another diagram, another list. “A fact of which your precious SHIELD should be very grateful, considering most of your technology in the last few years alone has been developed using a Stark base. I could probably find at least twenty SI patent violations in your SHIELD bathroom alone, Nick. Want to put me to the test?”

 

Fury’s jaw ticked. “What do you want?”

 

“Nothing Tony doesn’t deserve,” Darcy replied easily. “Stark Industries qualifies for several tax breaks, none of which require your authorization. This is more of a....congenial request that you cease your blatant scalping of Stark Tech.”

 

Nick’s face went blank. “Or what?”

 

Another chart went up, numbers flaring in violent red. “These are all Stark patents SHIELD is currently violating; the ones they don’t bother hiding anyway. The numbers you see beside them? Estimated cost, should Stark Industries decide to sue. Imagine what they’d look like if someone really looked.”

 

She flipped her finger up again, raising another soft green chart. Tony found that he deeply enjoys when her voice goes all verbatim and jargony. Or maybe it was the fact that she was dressing Nick Motherfucking Fury down with pie charts. It’s not everyday you see an angry pirate have his ass handed to him with fiscal statistics. Tony liked.

 

“These numbers however, display cost of leasing, purchasing, or renting Stark Tech. The choice is yours. You’ll note to the left, is a formal complaint drawn up by a lawyer friend of mine. Matthew Murdock[2]; I believe you’ve heard of him. He’s not currently practicing, but he put me in touch with a fantastic woman by the name of Kate Spencer[3].”

 

“Daredevil’s making friends I see,” Fury murmured, and Tony couldn’t help but be surprised. He’d heard of the Daredevil, not recently, but the legend was known. Perversely, he wondered if Darcy slept with him too. “That’s above your clearance level. Kate Spencer isn’t even part of our jurisdiction[4].”

 

“Please,” Darcy drawled. “I’ve played go-getter for every one of your top Agents; Hill, Coulson, Romanov, Barton. Hell, I’ve even helped Sitwell out on a few missions. Is anything really above my clearance?”

 

Fury nodded once, hand clenched over the edge of his desk. “Is that all?”

 

“Not even close,” Darcy pulled the charts away. “Stark Industries recently added a clause into all current and future employee contracts, one SHIELD might want to be made aware off. No employee may work outside of SI without permission. Employees may be contracted on a consult basis, and would be paid accordingly, based on their status at SI, field of work, etcetera. I took the liberty of emailing the proper paperwork to your legal department, should you find yourself in need of a Stark employee.”

 

Fury tilts back and stares at the ceiling for a long moment, hands folded over his stomach. Very little in his disposition has changed, but his shoulders had lost their tense edge. This is a Fury that has given in. This is a Fury defeated. He looks back at Darcy, eye narrowed. “All this because I called you a secretary?”

 

“All this because you called me a secretary,” Darcy confirms, before flicking up another chart. “Now, let’s talk about retroactive pay and reparations.....”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY FUCKING FOOT NOTES.
> 
> [1] - T’Challa is, as some of you might know, The Black Panther. Unrelated to this story, he is a native to Wakanda, the sight where verbanium was discovered. Verbanium being the same material used to make Captain America’s sheild, and contain the Hulk (I think).
> 
>  
> 
> The Wakanda Design Group is an actual canon company, based from Wakanda, and did create the first Quintjet. They are a small nation known for fierce warriors, but none more fierce than the Black Panther. 
> 
> He was quite technologically astute, and I can totally see he and Tony being bro’s.
> 
>  
> 
> [2] Matthew Murdock, aka Daredevil.
> 
>  
> 
> [3] Kate Spencer, also known as The Manhunter, was also a lawyer.
> 
> [4] “Kate Spencer isn’t even under our jurisdiction”- NF. A reference to her being a DC character. Ha.


End file.
